Can Japan’s Richest Person Save Cell Therapy’s Future?

Yanai Donates $30m To New iPSC Production Facility

With financial help from the founder of Uniqlo, Japan’s leading facility for induced pluripotent stem cells is aiming to automate production to slash costs and kick-start R&D in the field.

Japan iPSC lab
New Japan production facility aims to lower cost of induced pluripotent stem cell therapies. (Shutterstock/AI-generated)

A new facility in Japan for the production of autologous induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) may help drive national R&D activities in the autologous cell therapy area by reducing both safety risks and costs, the country’s leading research foundation in the field is predicting.

Receiving a donation totaling JPY4.5bn ($30m) from the country’s richest individual, the new facility is hopeful it can reduce production...

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